{"id":859,"date":"2026-05-14T05:04:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T05:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=859"},"modified":"2026-05-14T05:04:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T05:04:29","slug":"brett-kulak-scores-352-into-ot-avs-advance-to-west-final-with-4-3-win-over-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=859","title":{"rendered":"Brett Kulak scores 3:52 into OT, Avs advance to West final with 4-3 win over Wild"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

DENVER<\/strong> | Brett Kulak scored 3:52 into overtime after Nathan MacKinnon tied it late in regulation and the Colorado Avalanche advanced to the Western Conference final with a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Game 5 on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

Kulak capped a wild comeback for the Avalanche, who trailed 3-0 midway through the second period. Colorado moves on to the conference final for an eighth time since relocating to Denver in 1995-96.<\/p>\n

The Avalanche will face the Vegas-Anaheim winner. Vegas leads that series 3-2.<\/p>\n

With Minnesota up 3-1, Jack Drury scored with 3:33 remaining to set the stage for MacKinnon\u2019s goal with 1:23 left with the Colorado goal empty. The star forward sent a shot from the left side past Jesper Wallstedt and into a small space in the top left corner.\n<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

In overtime, Martin Necas took the puck, glided behind the net and back out front, where he found an open Kulak. Without missing a stride, he lined it past Wallstedt.<\/p>\n

Kulak joined the Avalanche on Feb. 24 as part of a deal that sent Samuel Girard to Pittsburgh. Kulak was the 16th Avalanche player to score in the series.<\/p>\n

He also was an unlikely OT hero. This was his first goal since Jan. 19 when he was with the Penguins, which also was his only goal of the regular season.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou always like to dream about it,\u201d said Kulak, who started the season with Edmonton before being dealt to Pittsburgh in December. \u201cThe player I am, I\u2019m not the guy (they\u2019re) looking down the bench, hollering, \u2018Get out there, go win it for us.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a rare series-ending win at home for Colorado, too. The last time the Avalanche won a series on home ice was 2008 against the Wild, when the team had Hall of Famers Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was fun,\u201d MacKinnon said. \u201cA lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcus Johansson scored 34 seconds into the game and Nick Foligno added two goals to give the Wild a 3-0 after the first period. It led Colorado to take out Mackenzie Blackwood after the first and insert Scott Wedgewood, who made seven saves.<\/p>\n

The Avalanche overcame a three-goal deficit to win a playoff game for just the third time in 53 tries since moving to Denver. The Wild had been 21-0 when leading a playoff game by at least three goals before the elimination loss.<\/p>\n

Wallstedt stopped 30 shots for the Wild. Matt Boldy and Nico Sturm each had two assists for a banged-up Wild team that was missing center Joel Eriksson Ek and defenseman Jonas Brodin all series.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you go after something like this, there\u2019s going to be two sides of the coin,\u201d Wild coach John Hynes said. \u201cOne is you\u2019re going to win, which is a great feeling. And when you lose, it\u2019s an empty feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Aurora prep sports schedule, 5.13.26<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Read more LETTER: Reality reveals that Aurora Water not the bad guy as Rep. Carter insists<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Read more Rockies\u2019 Jake McCarthy becomes first left fielder since 2013 to record unassisted double play<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brett Kulak scored 3:52 into overtime after Nathan MacKinnon tied it late in regulation and the Colorado Avalanche advanced to the Western Conference final with a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Game 5 on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[662],"tags":[361],"class_list":["post-859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avalanche","tag-colorado-avalanche"],"yoast_head":"\nBrett Kulak scores 3:52 into OT, Avs advance to West final with 4-3 win over Wild - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=859\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Brett Kulak scores 3:52 into OT, Avs advance to West final with 4-3 win over Wild - 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